Handelsblatt

Carmaker VW is planning the climate-neutral production of its upcoming electric model ID Neo, which is the successor to the company’s best-selling electric model E-Golf and seen as VW’s entry into true mass-market e-mobility, reports Julian Olk in the business daily Handelsblatt. Producing a single ID Neo would normally emit 15 tonnes of CO2, including 7 tonnes for the battery, but VW plans to deliver the models “unburdened” by emissions, said company strategist Michael Jost at a conference at VW headquarters in Wolfsburg. Production of the ID Neo is set to launch in 2020 in the Eastern German town of Zwickau, where VW plans Europe’s largest e-car factory with an annual output of 330,000 vehicles. Jost said production could not be entirely emission-free from day one, but added VW plans to compensate for this, for example via certificates for rainforest reforestation. Europe’s largest carmaker plans to cooperate with cell makers so renewable power can be used in production instead of lignite power, according to Jost.